Monitoring of glass fibers is becoming increasingly important.
DE 103 17 620 A1 discloses a glass fiber coupler module, comprising a cassette carrier, which is connected to a front panel, the cassette carrier having an associated coupler by means of which the signals of at least one incoming glass fiber are distributed over at least two outgoing glass fibers, a first group of couplings and a second group of couplings, the second group of couplings being arranged on the front panel, glass fibers of the first group of couplings being passed into the coupler, and the outgoing glass fibers from the coupler being connected to the second group of couplings, the first group of couplings being arranged on a mounting plate which is arranged on the cassette carrier such that it can pivot.
Known under the product designation “Gf-Überwachungsmodul PROFIL 90/10” [glass fiber monitoring module PROFIL 90/10], released Nov. 22, 2004, is a glass fiber monitoring module, comprising a mounting plate, couplings for receiving plugs of incoming and outgoing glass fibers and a coupler module being arranged on the mounting plate, couplers being arranged in the coupler module and being used to split the signals of one incoming glass fiber between two outgoing glass fibers at a predeterminable ratio (in this case 90/10), one outgoing glass fiber transmitting a useful signal (90%) and the other glass fiber transmitting a test signal (10%). The couplings for the incoming glass fibers and the outgoing glass fibers carrying the useful signal are all arranged in a row. The mounting plate is arranged in a housing, the couplings being arranged at an angle with respect to the front side of the housing. Next to the row of couplings for the incoming and outgoing glass fibers is arranged a second row of couplings for the glass fibers carrying the test signal, which are perpendicular to the front side of the housing. In order to protect the plugs and for labeling purposes, a removable cover is arranged on the housing and is fixed laterally on the housing. Arranged on the other end face is a deflecting element, by means of which the glass fibers can be passed from the couplings in the direction of the rear side of the housing whilst maintaining the permitted bending radii. The test signals for permanent monitoring can then be fed to a measuring device via the couplings in the second row. In this case it is necessary for the cover to have a sufficient spacing from the couplings in order for the minimum bending radii for the glass fibers having the test signals to be maintained. The couplings in the second row may also be used for temporarily limited measurements, for example for adjusting transmission devices, for which purpose, however, in this case the cover needs to be removed. One disadvantage of the known glass fiber monitoring module is the fact that the pushed-forward cover requires a relatively large amount of space which is not available with all installation types. Furthermore, passing the glass fibers from the second couplings via the deflecting element is relatively complex, since there is relatively little space.